SEO is super effing (our boss told us we can’t swear anymore) important for marketers at all levels in all industries. Today, we’re going to get you up to speed about how you should be doing SEO—right now—to prepare for 2018.
This Read outlines exactly what Brian Dean, an SEO Jedi, is doing to prepare for 2018. It’s also a crazy long guide so we’re just gonna get to it.
Here’s what you need to know about SEO in 2018:
- RankBrain & User Experience Signals. RankBrain is Google’s third most important ranking factor. It’s an AI algorithm that understands how users interact with your website. It looks at things like time on page and bounce rate. If you aren’t doing everything you can to increase those numbers, RankBrain will hurt you.
- Become a CTR Jedi. With featured snippets and more ads, organic results are getting pushed further down the SERPs. You need to do everything you can to capture the organic traffic that’s still available.
- Comprehensive, In-Depth Content Wins. You need very long, in-depth content to rank highly. Content that is close to 2,000 words ranks higher than any other length of content.
- Get Ready for Google’s Mobile-first Index. This is a big one. Google is going to be switching their ranking system to look at your mobile website first. If you’re still using a mobile “M.” version of your site, you need to switch to a responsive version. Like today.
- Go All-In With Video (Or Get Left Behind). Like all the social platforms, Google is pushing video in their results.
- Pay Attention to Voice Search. “Okay, Google. Where can I get ramen for lunch?” Searches like that are more and more common. Structure your content to reflect a question and answer format.
- Don’t Forget: Content and Links Are Key. At the end of the day, none of this matters if your content is bad and you don’t have backlinks. Get that part of your SEO into shape ASAP.
But wait, there’s more! Brian also included a quick tips chapter of things you can do right now to get more backlinks.
